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Chapter 9
Summary During the course of this chapter the situation for the boys on the island progressively becomes worse and worse. Simon realises the truth about the beast, but because he becomes slightly mad from dehydration, he is seen as an animal when he arrives at the boys. Whilst Simon is discovering this revelation, the boys are drawn into a frenzies ritual reinacting the killing of the pig. When Simon arrives the boys are so enthralled by the dance that they see him as the beast and attack him. He is then beaten to death. Characters Ralph and the other boys give in temptation to go to the feast but even then Ralph disagrees with everything. All that he can see is the savagery of Jack and the way that they have become without rules and equal rights in the group. Despite this, he is still a child and feels able to live out this by dancing and trying to enjoy his time with the other children's activities. Jack has changed greatly, living as a king rather than a chief, he is tended by younger boys and rules over the tribe lavishly. While he must feel something for Ralph who has come to his party, whether it be pride, regret or anger, he does not show it here and tries to be hospitable to all of his guests including Piggy and basically every boy except Simon. This is because Simon had in his waking curiosity discovered that the beast in daylight was simply a dead parachutist. Excited to tell the tribe, he goes to Jack's party but while crawling out of the bushes, the other boys have been worked up into a frenzied state and they mistake him for a beast. In the dark, he is unable to reveal himself to the other boys and he ends up being cruelly mauled by the hands of the others; this could possibly have even included Ralph and Piggy. Setting There are two starkly contrasting settings in this chapter, firstly, the forest which is eerie to most children is simply a forest at night and in this light, Simon is able to calmly locate and identify the beast. Were it dark then he would likely be scared also but his frame of mind is entirely different in daylight even if it is the middle of the island while alone. At night, the boys dancing around a campfire begin to have the wrong state of mind. Being crazed in the dark was a bad mix and because the area they were in felt so safe (it being a camp), they were brave and envigorated. Were it not dark then they surely wouldn't have gotten so worked up or mistakenly killed a friend but the anonymity of the dark along with tribal chanting and the general wild atmosphere meant they were completely out of control. Themes and Writing Style In chapter 9 we experience our second death in the story, but the first death of a main developed character. Compared to the malberry-faced boy, Simon is a developed character making us feel more grief for him about what the other children do to him. A number of key themes are related to this death. Savagery is the first theme which is directly related to Simon's death in this chapter. This is because the children become so immersed in a primative, frenzied dance that they kill Simon without even realising. On closer inspection, this could be linked back to Jack who nurtured this primative instinct within the boys, therefore making it his fault that Simon died. However, others may disagree, because it was all of the boys as a whole who beat Simon to death, and it is all of these boys as a whole who are savages. As seen in the previous chapter, Jack alone could not control the tribe, he was but one person, but all of them together are much more dangerous. This group of animalistic humans suggest savagery through the brutal way they beat Simon to death. Leadership resurfaces once again in this chapter as Ralph realises that he no longer controls the tribe and Jack is now is control. The climax and battle between the two children in the previous chapters has been concluded, and now we see the effects of Jack's reign of tyranny. Truth is a key aspect in this chapter, adding to the sorrow and frustration which are in the mix of emotions provided by this chapter. Simon discovers that there actually is no beast atop the mountain, and perhaps if he could have the time to explain this to the boys, then order would be restored and there would be no more deaths and the boys would thrive. However, Simon is killed, and with his death the truth is lost. Conclusion and Final Comment After seeing events turn for the worse in the few previous chapters, the tension climaxes as we see Simon mauled to death by the tribe of children during a frenzied dance. This suggests more evil is on the horizon as the children further descend into anarchy whilst Ralph is regarded as and outcast and no longer the strong leader.